By Fred J. Robledo, Staff Writer
The better the opponent, the more Maribel Duran feels she rises to the occasion. Just from her body language and the way she was fighting defenders on fifty-fifty balls, the junior wasn’t going to leave anything for chance, delivering a dominating performance with a hat-trick against fourth-seed Alverno in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 6 girls soccer playoffs on Thursday. Not only did Maribel Duran score three goals, her freshman sister Daisy Duran scored the other, leading the Saints to a 4-1 victory and into the quarterfinals on Thursday, where the Saints (18-2-2) will be on the road against the Tahquitz-La Canada winner. (To continue reading click thread)

Below: Maribel Duran’s sick step-over left her defender in the ….. you get the picture. It led to the first of three goals.

“This year hasn’t been a great year for me shooting, but my dad told
me to come out and have fun and that’s what I did,” Maribel Duran said. “I felt pretty calm in front of the goal and we played a great game all the way around.
“I don’t know what it is, but I love the competition and the
playoffs, it’s easy to get up for and be focused.”
Duran’s first goal was something special, she gathered the ball along
the left side and used a step-over move to free herself from a defender, then
delivered an even better shot from a tough angle to give the Saints a 1-0
lead in the 18th minute.
Alverno’s big player Celina Minissian leveled the match with her 35th
goal of the season. She saw Saints goalkeeper Rachel Jones cheating off her
line and dropped a ball over the top in the 33rd minute, and it stayed that
way until half, 1-1.
“I was looking at Alverno’s stats before the game and she’s
(Minissian) the one who stood out,” San Dimas coach Kelly Kocalis said. “She
scored, but I thought we did a good job making her work all afternoon. We
never had to manmark her because collectively we always had someone around
her.”
Plus there was no way Alverno (14-4-2) could deal with both Duran
sisters.
Daisy Duran scored to put the Saints back in front in the 69th
minute, firing a shot off the upper-roof for a 2-1 lead.
Then it was all Maribel Duran, scoring in the 72nd minute on a
breakaway and the 79th minute on a hustle play.
Saints midfielder Shannon McKee also had a good afternoon, but the
day obviously belonged to the Duran sisters.
“I love playing with my sister,” Maribel Duran said. “It’s sister
telepathy. We always know where we are on the field. We have different
styles, but we play well together.”
For Alverno, which won a divisional title in 2009 and reached the
semifinals in 2010, it was a tough ending.
“We had a short bench and (Minissian) wasn’t feeling that well, but
even if everything had been working for us, it was just their day,” Alverno
coach Ken Berry said. “Sometimes you just have to give it up to your
opponent. They played well, scored nice goals and got the win. We wish them
luck the rest of the way.”

About Fred Robledo

Good luck today to San Dimas, Northview, and Sierra Vista. I would love to see a Northview and a Sierra Vista match up on Thursday.

Last year, Sierra Vista beat Alverno twice. While Alverno has some good players, they get frustrated very easily.

I’m glad to hear that there will be coverage at the Sierra Vista/San Marino game. GO LADY DONS!!!!!

How do I sign up for Twitter updates? I had it last year, but don’t remember.

Love LA

Good Luck to our Los Altos Girls today.
GO CONQUERORS!!

alfredo

san marino 1-0 over sierra vista

saintsgirlsr4real2

Yes, the duran girls scored well for the saints but Fred could you give a little love to the saints defense and Rachel Jones for holding #2 who scored 34 goals up until today to one goal on the night? Jones had at least 3 key saves, including one on the corner that was swept up for no goal that helped their offense. We have no offense without a good defense,

SaintsR4real

FRED…

Where are all the Soccer updates??
To many teams in the denial stage.

Great game San Dimas Lady Siants!!

saintsgirlsr4r3ql2

Thanks Saintsr4real – you were my inspiration, I am almost done, keep the faith

LA Futbol

First off, let me start by saying Congrats to Bishop Amat and San Dimas for being the last SGV teams remaining in the playoffs! (I still refuse to count Ayala as an SGV team…I don’t care what the Tribune says!) Good luck in the next round(s)

As for the Lady Conquerors…what is there to say. Sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the bug. Today we were the bug. Had multiple chances and couldn’t put them away…THAT’S SOCCER! You ladies have nothing to hang your head about. I was proud to watch you play this year and call you “my team”. Seniors, farewell and good luck in your future endeavors. Underclassmen, It’s your team now. Make it happen.

Soccer Lvr

I was really hoping for a Sierra Vista and Northview match on Thursday. That would have been a great game to see! Unfortunately, these two great teams are out 🙁

Lady Dons, wish things would have been different. Keep your heads up- you had an amazing season. Let’s now look forward to next year! We will absolutely miss our Seniors, especially Alyssa (Freshman) and Lizbeth (Chata). You will always be family to me.

Thank you to the boys and girls SV coaching staff for your dedication and hard work!

Good Luck to San Dimas. I knew you could beat Alverno! Hoping you make it to the Finals.

Comments Policy

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@langnews.com.